Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC Sells 297 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,053 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 297 shares during the period. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 12.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,563,853,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373,894 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Paychex by 155.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $304,338,000 after buying an additional 1,508,681 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Paychex by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,356,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $279,351,000 after buying an additional 384,184 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,790,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $212,267,000 after purchasing an additional 113,856 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,703,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $202,016,000 after purchasing an additional 114,132 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,020,197.70. This trade represents a 50.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 in the last three months. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $141.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $51.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $139.49 and its 200 day moving average is $129.42. Paychex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Research analysts predict that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.58%.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.